Mounts
The term 'mounts' is a generic term that describes any sort of creature your character can ride while traveling throughout the realms. Currently, only horses are available. Riding your mount (instead of traveling about on foot) and keeping its fatigue at or below 50% will provide you with a +1 bonus to Melee Rating, Stamina Points and Nevernal Reserve. Types Three kinds of horses are available from Garsmyn the Horse Trader in Thanevale: palfreys, coursers, and chargers. Each of them costs 6,000 gold. If you have an unidentified level of Diplomacy (40 is enough) you will automatically haggle the price down to 5,000 gold. You can also acquire a special charger, Stormgait, by winning the jousting tournament on Saarngard Isle. The differences between these horses are: Some players may prefer to wait til they acquire Stormgait instead of buying a mount, but the price is not very hefty for a +1 bonus to MR, SP, and NV. Since currently the only implemented mechanic is the Endurance, you should always buy a Charger. That way your maintenance costs will be reduced. Attributes Mounts have several attributes that define their abilities: Speed Supposedly, the higher a mount's speed attribute is, the less time it will take to travel from place to place. In practice, however, there seems to be no noticeable difference in travel time between a charger (speed 3) and a palfrey (speed 5). Mounts also have a hidden speed attribute, ranging from 1 to 100, that is randomly set at the time of acquisition (it may not be random for special/unique mounts). This special attribute will come into play in various situations where great speed may be called for (outrunning a foe, catching up with something, or racing, etc.) No such situations have been implemented in the game yet, as far as we know. Endurance The higher a mount's endurance attribute is, the less fatigue the creature will likely sustain while traveling. This manifests as a slight difference in fatigue: a palfrey will get 1% to 4% points of fatigue per trip, while a charger will get 0% to 2% per trip. Since they all cost the same gold and speed mechanics haven't yet been implemented, this makes the charger the best option. Mounts also have a hidden endurance attribute, ranging from 1 to 100, that is randomly set at the time of acquisition. This special attribute comes into play in various situations where great endurance may be called for (long distance gallops, racing, etc.) Again, none of these situations are known to have yet been implemented. Fatigue This score represents the overall condition and weariness of a mount. As a mount's fatigue score rises, the animal's attributes (particularly speed) will suffer. This mechanic has not yet been implemented. The stat boosts vanish if fatigue goes over 50%. If it reaches 100%, a mount will no longer be able to be ridden. Properly tending to a mount (an option that's available when viewing your mount) will allow you to undo any fatigue the creature has sustained, this will also make the stats boost return the next time you travel. The amount of fatigue your mount sustains for each travel seems to be random. You can take 3% for going from Talinus to Moonshore Crossroads and just 1% for going from Deepwell to Graldok. Also, the amounts of fatigue suffered for the same route change from one time to the next. Different horse types have different fatigue ranges, Chargers being the best ones. Health This rating represents the current health of the mount. Mounts are susceptible to disease (and other things) that can negatively affect their health. Such situations haven't still been attested. Disposition This rating represents your mount's attitude toward you. Properly tending to your mount will have a positive effect on disposition, while neglecting the needs of the animal will have a negative effect. Note: in November 2009, the GM confirmed that this attribute has not been implemented yet, saying "The second stage of adventurer mounts needs to be completed, which will feature some different options, including the fluctuating attitudes of the mounts." Age Mounts age in real-time. Each real-world day that passes (following your acquisition of a mount) will increase the age of the animal by a specified amount. As mounts grow older, their abilities will decline and they will eventually die (unless...). Still, there have been no reports of this happening yet; it is probable that aging will be implemented as part of the "second stage of adventurer mounts" mentioned above. Maintenance The tending cost for a horse (how many gold it takes to tend the horse for each percentage point of fatigue) varies depending on your Horsemanship skill. Category:Game Concepts